Fullmetal Highschool
by TheEquivalentExchanger
Summary: A FMA highschool!AU, submitted by Anonymous on Tumblr. Thank you for the 100 followers
1. Chapter 1

It was a pale Tuesday evening, and Edward Elric sat in his chair with his feet kicked up on his desk, leaning back precariously with uncanny balance. In his mouth hung a cherry-red sucker, that'd managed to stain his lips a bright and sticky sweet pink. His hair, tied back in a pony tail, hung limply over his face, and he crunched down hard on the candy.

"Hey, Mustang, when do I get out of here?" He growled to the teacher, who sneered over his book labeled '100 ways to take over the country'.

"Maybe if you weren't being such an ass in class, Elric, you wouldn't need to be here." He retorted.

Ed smirked deviously to himself, reminiscing the sweet satisfaction he and Ling had achieved that morning, when they'd saran-wrapped Mustang's desk and chair. He'd been out at the time, printing papers or something, and it'd given the two just the right amount of time to play the prank. He'd quite enjoyed the look on his classmate's faces when they'd finished, and rushed back to his desk just as Mustang came back.

Even if it had cost him another detention, it was totally worth it.

"You realize this is the 49th time you've received detention, right?"

Edward smirked. It didn't matter to him. It wasn't like he had anything to do, anyways. He and his brother, Al, lived alone, and nobody expected anything of them to begin with. Alphonse could manage on his own just fine, and unlike himself, he had no problem achieving top-of-the-class marks in every subject.

"You're just wasting your own time, Mustang." Edward muttered and glanced out the window. The teacher simply just huffed a small sigh and continued reading his book.

There wasn't any reason for being in this school. It was boring, and it wasn't like he was going to need any education. Luckily, his father worked abroad, and owned a renowned business that Ed would inherit after he left high school. He would've been fine without this school, but for some reason his father enrolled him anyways.

"Where's Ling, anyways?" Ed asked suddenly, after realizing that his friend still hadn't shown up, even though the detention was almost over.

"He had family matters to take care of." Mustang answered curtly. Edward nodded silently.

Unlike himself, Ling Yao had multiple siblings that he needed to take care of, and had no time for after-school activities, no matter how mandatory they were. And somehow, that lucky bastard managed to excuse himself from every single detention, always with a note from his grandmother written in shaky writing. Only once had he visited Ling's house, and it was a unique experience, considering he usually lived a more secluded lifestyle.

"Okay, Elric." Mustang closed his book and lifted himself out of the seat, "You're free to leave."

Ed got up slowly, stretching his legs and arms, and sauntered over to the front desk, where Mustang was waiting with his cell phone. Edward held out his hand expectantly, before Mustang sighed.

"Just please," He heaved with an exasperated tone, "try not to do it again!"

Ed smirked and snatched the phone, shoving his hands in the pockets of his scarlet hoodie before he made his way home.

The next day, Ed met Ling on the way to school. His friend's house marked the half-way point between his house and the school, so Ed always picked up his friend on the way.

Ling was prying 5-year-old Mei off of his leg with an apologetic grin, pushing her over to his frail grandmother. The Chinese teen gave a swift wave before jogging over to his friend.

Ed smiled, "Hey."

Ling nodded with a smirk, "Hey."

The duo continued silently to school before Ed noticed Ling scrolling through his cellphone. A small grin displayed across his lips as the message was read, and Ed noticed the tips of his ears deepening with a pink hue. Mischievously, Ed slung his arm around his friend's shoulders, reading the message as fast as he could before Ling could hide it from him.

"Wh-What?!" Ling cried, shoving the phone back into his pocket.

As Ed suspected, it was a text from Lan Fan, the girl Ling had been pining over since middle school. He'd only recently exchanged phone numbers with her, so it was like a gift from the heavens whenever she texted him. Everyone knew they both liked each other, but for some reason, the two of them were too dense to see it.

Ed simply smiled to himself, he'd vowed long ago that he wouldn't tell Ling until he found out himself. After all, their actions were the main source of amusement in his life, apart from tormenting that half-assed teacher.

"D-do you have anyone yet?" Ling asked quietly, staring at the ground. Ed looked over, surprised. "Someone you like, I mean."

Ed opened his mouth, about to bluntly say no, until a sudden thought struck him. The golden-haired teen clamped his lips shut, glaring forward and pondering if his feelings for her were anything more than a friend.

Ling looked up to his friend, waiting for a reply, but Ed didn't have one.

"I don't know." He stated blatantly, giving Ling the hint to shut up. Ling smiled knowingly to himself, and ignored his signal.

"It's Winry, isn't it?" He teased, and Ed jolted at the suggestion. He punched his friend square in the shoulder, and stalked forward, ignoring the statement. Ling smirked at his friend's suggestion, he'd known that he'd had a crush on Winry Rockbell for a while now, even if he was too stubborn to admit it.

When the two finally reached the classroom, the class went silent for a moment as they watched them enter, before erupting into whoops and cheers, coming up and clapping them on the back.

"Oh man, yesterday!" A blond, scruffy kid named Jean patted Ed on the shoulder, chuckling to himself. "That was great, man!"

"Awesomee!" A smaller, black haired fellow that usually hung around with Jean greet Ed. "You guys are the best!"

"Shut up, Kain, you're acting like an idiot!" Jean pulled Kain away from the pair, scolding him. A swarm of girls filled their positions, their eyes twinkling with admiration, and Ed looked around for the one he hoped noticed.

Winry Rockbell sat in the back of the room, ignoring the two and writing down notes from a Bio textbook. She hadn't so much as lifted her head at the commotion, and this wasn't anything new, either. She constantly ignored Ed, occasionally refusing to talk to him altogether. Ed had tried his hardest to gain her attention, but his efforts deemed worthless when they failed time after time.

He walked casually to the back of the room, trying not to make her notice how frustrated he was. Ling took his place across the room, only 2 seats in front of Lan Fan. Ed glanced at Winry from the corner of his eye, straining to catch a glance at what she was writing down.

"I don't remember getting homework in Bio yesterday." He piped up, trying to start a conversation.

After a few moments of cold silence, the girl responded.

"Of course you wouldn't." Her tone was calm and collected, but somehow managed to trace a pleasant shiver down Ed's spine, "You were too busy goofing off."

Ed stuck his lower lip out in a small pout, trying to remember if they really did get homework yesterday. But, it was no use. He couldn't remember a thing.

"Well, why're you doing it now?" He smirked, trying to annoy her into turning around, or even to look at him, "Don't your parents help remind you?"

At that comment, Winry's back stiffened, her shoulder's hunched and shaking slightly. She gripped the pencil in her hand so tightly that Ed thought it might break. He immediately regretted the decision to tease her, but he hadn't known it would make her this angry!

Winry snapped around, shooting him a glare before abruptly getting out of her chair and stalking out of the classroom. Edward sat dumbfounded in his chair, trying his hardest to ignore the stares he gained from his peers, and desperately searched for his friend's gaze.

Ling simply shrugged, leaving Ed in a hopeless state of mind. He placed his head in his hands, and sulked silently to himself, until Mustang arrived.

He'd just destroyed every chance he had. He'd never seen her so angry, and it despaired him to think about the inevitable.

Surely, there was no hope anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

It'd been 2 classes since Winry had returned, cool and collected as usual, to the classroom. She'd simply apologized to Mustang, saying that she'd needed to go to the washroom, and took her seat next to Ed.

Since then, he'd desperately been attempting to catch her gaze, staring at her for long periods on end. His efforts were meaningless to no avail, though, as she never so much as flicked a glance in his direction. By the time lunch rolled around, a scowl had formed across Ed's face, and his attention-seeking gaze turned into a full-on glare.

Finally, he gave up. He wasn't going to spend anymore time trying to cajole this girl. Her stubborn and condescending attitude pissed him off, and he didn't know why he was trying so hard to pry for her attention in the first place. He left her at her desk to eat her boring, plain and most un-girly bento, a simple box of rice and tempura, with a pickled plum sitting in the middle.

Growling curses below his breath, Ed pulled up a chair next to Ling, wrinkles beginning to form between his eyebrows. Ling, looking up from his 3-tier lunch box which he'd been ravishing just before, smirked at his friend's expression. It was a new thing to see Ed as flustered as he was, and Ling enjoyed it, very much.

Shovelling another pile of food into his mouth, he chewed twice and swallowed the heaping mound, before grinning and turning to face Ed.

"So, I take it it's not going well?" Ling smirked, his eyes slanted in a teasing smirk.

Ed shot Ling a glare, his mouth opening wide to spout off an answer, but quickly shut it in attempts to lower his voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ed denied, "She's just fun to piss off."

Ling pursed his lips in a disbelieving smirk. Ed was beginning to realize that he might have developed feelings for the stone-faced girl, but there was no way in hell he was going to admit it. Though, Ling didn't need it written out for him. He could clearly see the pouty, sullen look engraved across Ed's face when Winry shot him down.

Ling, getting bored, brought up a new topic.

"You have basketball after school, right?" Ling piped up, "Won't you see her then?"

Ed nodded. It was only a couple months ago that he'd been recruited to join the team. For some reason, even though he was shorter than most of the players on the team, the coach had grabbed him by the arm and pretty much dragged him into the gym. The only explanation the damn bag of muscles gave was "He's like a monkey! I've never seen anyone jump so high!".

When he was brought in front of his teammates, which comprised mostly of 2nd and 3rd year players, they regarded him with sceptical eyes. Apparently, it was a great honour for a first year to be personally recruited by the coach, so they knew that he had to have some sort of talent.

That was where Ed had first met Winry. She was the manager of the basketball team. She knew how to devise strategies exceedingly well, and according to his teammates, her apple pies that she brought in on occasion were like "god's children". Her cool and stoic manor offered a lot of attention from the older guys on the team, but she always turned them away politely, with a soft smile on her face.

Every time, it was the same response, "Sorry, but I'm not ready for a relationship right now."

Needless to say, she immediately caught Edward's attention, and he realized that she was actually in his class, in the seat right next to him. He'd never noticed her before then, but all of the sudden, Winry was the only person Ed could see. He made it his goal to befriend her. At the time, he'd thought 'How hard can it be?', but after only a couple weeks of interacting with her, he knew it wasn't going to be an easy task.

Now, a few months later, he and Winry were still held at a distance from each other. She always gave him the cold shoulder, and her demeanour towards him was noticeably different than the way she treated other guys.

The girl was clearly very popular. According to Ling, only three weeks after entering high school, she'd received 12 love letters and 4 face-to-face confessions. It was pretty obvious why, as well. To put it bluntly, the girl was gorgeous. She had long, silken strands of blonde hair which framed her face so delicately, and piercing azure eyes that seemed to stare right through you. She never pulled her hair back, and never tucked it behind her ears, which every other girl had no trouble doing too often. Her sweet and calm attitude towards her peers earned affection from both her male and female classmates, and she was an all-around good student.

But this never fooled Ed.

To him, the girl was a stubborn bitch, a cold-hearted, mean-spirited girl that didn't know any manners and was constantly ignoring him. So Ed couldn't figure out why he was so attracted to her.

After practice, Ed approached Winry as she began to collect the basketballs from the gym floor. The other guys were heading into the locker rooms, dripping with sweat and joking amongst themselves. Once they'd disappeared from view, he handed Winry a ball, trying his hardest to muster up the warmest smile he could. She looked up at him from under her eyelashes, her sterling eyes causing Ed's chest to throb, and she took the basketball from his hand.

It was awkward, how silently she stood there, but she didn't seem affected by his presence. Ed glanced around sheepishly, waiting for a chance to bring up a conversation. She zipped up the ball-bag with a flourish, and stood up straight.

"Hey, um…" Ed began uncertainly.

Winry shot him an icy glare, "What."

"About this morning. Sorry." There, he'd done it. If there was one thing he knew about girls, it was that they loved apologies.

"Whatever." The blonde hauled the bag onto her shoulder, beginning to walk away. Before she could walk 2 steps, Ed grabbed her hand, desperate to continue their conversation.

"If I can ask, though, why did you um…" Ed trailed off, wondering if it was a good idea to ask. She flicked him a glance, a warning glare before her gaze softened and she looked away.

"It doesn't have anything to do with you." She replied softly, but Ed still felt bad about what he said.

"I didn't mean to-"

"I said it doesn't have anything to do with you." Her voice was hurt, wounded, and she looked back at Ed with gloomy, sorrow-stricken eyes. "You were right, anyways."

Ed looked at her questionably.

"They don't remind me to do my homework or anything like that." Winry's voice cracked, and Ed began to worry if there was something wrong at her household.

"Why not?" He asked quietly.

"Because they're not even alive anymore."


End file.
